Microporous Heteroconical Array for Reconfigurable Omnidirectional Radiative Thermal Management

Currently, optical-based thermal management surfaces typically exhibit single-species functional attributes, such as radiative cooling, which struggle to achieve on-demand compatibility with complex thermal environments. Inspired by specialized optical biosurface architectures in nature, particularly the wings of Curetis acuta, a shape-memory microporous heteroconical array (MHA) capable of in situ programmable thermal regulation is reported. This heteroconical array integrates distinct Janus optical functionalities, enabling both static adaptability and dynamic multi-order reconfiguration between radiative cooling and passive thermal barrier states. The wide-span transitions in solar reflectance and infrared emittance range from 97.4% and 95.9% to 26.3% and 25.7%, respectively. Practical measurements demonstrate that the MHA effectively regulates diurnal and seasonal temperature fluctuations on demand. Compared to existing radiative cooling materials, which suffer from overcooling effects and increased energy consumption in specific regions, the MHA system demonstrates thermos-adaptability by addressing localized thermal demands, achieving a remarkable global energy-saving potential of up to 5.68 × 10¹⁸ kJ year⁻¹. Furthermore, beyond terrestrial applications, the MHA system exhibits immense optical thermo-adaptive potential for deployment in low-Earth-orbit satellites. Thus, it is expected that such heteroconical array systems serve as an ideal candidate for next-generation passive thermal management surface technologies.